The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-09-22
SHAKING HANDS.
The Condescending, the Fishy, the !
Gushing, the Dignified and the !
Friendly Shake.
From the Home Journo,'.

Friendly Shake.
From the Home Journa,,
The bony shake is not confined to either
sex; it may be found alike in tall and short,
stout and thin; and consists of an offer of
the bones only of the right hand; not until
your hand closes round the shakers palm
can you feel the coldness, the lack of fervor
IN the greeting; there is no responsive grip
to your own, but the muscles only of the
fingers and the palm lie in Your hand, as
though you We're handling that which may
be fifty described as belonging TO one of the
lemon squeezers of society, one who is wet
blanket on all enjoyment, sees clouds in sun
shine. collins in the candle, whose talk sets
your teeth on edge, and in whose unexpres-
sive eyes you can find no trace of sympathy
or feeling. The bony fingers should have
already warned you that to trust such one
will entail on you disaster and defeat.
The Condescendlng Shake.-Have you
never felt it, How lightly the fingers
sometimes three, seldom four, and never
the whole hand drop into your palm; you
do the shaking, because the condescending
fingers lie passive i'll your grasp, and the
hand itself would tell you, if it could, how
much it feels the ineffable sweetness of its
own disposition in even allowing you so
great a privilege. The same hand once
maybe met yours with a grasp as genial as
airy, whereas Tom had a windfall, and
curious, isn't it, to see cause and effect! The
genial handshake has become more high
toned and placid, and the nervous grasp of
the fingers is changed for gentle dropping
of the digits in your outstretched hand.
The Fishy Shake.-Cold and clammy
strikes the hand you grasp, giving you a
feeling of dissatisfaction and disgust as you
instinctively think of Uriah Heep, and,
un1ny, axtn onnfboy ft1rtivalNy 10 10
out your pocket handkerchief to wipe off
the moisture which seems to have passed
from the palm of the shaker into yours.
Possessed, as a rule, by those whose tempers
have gone wrong, whose milk of human
kindness has turned sour, or whose hidden
purposes it is impossible to fathom, the
clammy hand frequently belongs to those
with whom it is not pleasant to deal In all
fiction the CHASTITY hand is icy cold. or else n
flshy, clamrny grasp-either will do to fill
up the narrowing detail. Even grim death
himself issupposed to touch us with similar
grasp. Take warning in time; never try
and perpetlate joke with man who has
a tishy handshake for greeting.
The Mechanical Shake. Who is not ia
miliar with the action of pump handle as
it is pushed up and down, and in some hand
shakes the same principle is at work! There
is no soul in it, The lifting up and down of
the arm, which, when it is released, falls
down fat against the owners side; the me-
chanical utterance of few common place
words spoken like an automatOn, all
these tell you enough of the character of the
man who stands before you You cannot
gather grapes from thorns, or else. you
might expect miracles to occur again on
earth; and if you think there is any enthusi-
asm below the surface in the mind of the
mechanical shaker, why, all we ask is try
to fproa IL ONT nj him if Won pan
The Gushing Shake.-The how-are- You
shake, with the how very large and loud,
the sort of greeting that fairly takes your
breath away and makes you fear you will
be eaten before you know 1.-THE jolly man
or the jolly woman, to whom life is pleas
ure and whose existence is series of de-
lights, who wants everybody to be as
happy as he is himself, and whose flow of
spirits fairly infects you with some measure
of the same good humor; your usual
sober mindedness maybe, comes to the
rescue just in tune, however, and you get
over the slight attack Of unwonted frivolty /;
yet when the shaker has gone it almost
seems as if a ray of sunshine had shone on
you, and the day seems all the brighter for
the CLEAN.
The Dignified Shake.-Much affected by
the professions. You are, may be, inn
mersed in some pursuit for the good of man
kind at large, or for your special town for
we trust you are the respectable and belong
to SOMEWHERE; big with Importance, you
stroll along, and so strolling you meet the
dignified shake. You had thought of COM
municating your opinions to the lady or
gentleman you have now met, but-one
touch of the hand and away flies the fancy
Like the frozen mutton of the antipodes you
will want thawing in the warmth of friend
ship before you can talk to any one again,
and as the gushing shaker gave you life and
light, SO the dignified shaker gives you a
douche of the cold water, which takes
away your energy and spirits for the day.
The Friendly Shake-The hearty grasp,
which, without being too violent either to
crush the bones or to hurt the fingers, is yet
warm enough, fervid enough, to tell you
that the shakers heart is right. You have
only to look into the eyes of such one to
be able to read the honesty of purpose that
shines through the lamps OF the soul; a grasp
that tells of loving heart, in whose recesses
there are sympathies that can share the
woes as well as the joys of others; that can
afford to laugh at the narrow minded, the
selfish and the wicked; but can offer to those
whom they respect the genial hand shake,
wherein every muscle, every nerve, tells of
a desire to do all they can to cheer the path
in life of those they meet and inspire within
their fellow-creat1res' hearts the knowledge
that there are among us still those who are
ready to offer at all times and seasons the
fervid grasp that tells of friendship, of fell
loWship and good will